City police drive against drunken driving loses steam

After the initial storm of policing against drunk driving, there seems to be a lull on city roads. The drive has fizzled out in the wake of shortage of breathalyser pipes.

Till March this year, the city police used to fine as many as 100 drunk drivers a night during patrolling However, the figure has sharply fallen due to a number of controversies arising out of multiple use of alcometer pipes.

The last major drive took place on March 31 when 114 persons were booked for drunk driving. “I hardly come across any police patrol teams on roads these days. Earlier I used to be scared to drink and drive,” said 19-year-old Aman Sharma, a college student who regularly visits pubs on MG Road.

Earlier this year, a doctor had alleged that he was harassed by the police after he refused to blow into an alcometer since it was being reused. In March, the city police had asked for 10,000 breathalyser pipes from the higher authorities. Yet again in January, the police had demanded 2,500 pipes. But their demand is yet to be met.

“We used to issue more than 100 challans per night till March. But due to lack of sufficient number of pipes, our work has been affected,” a police officer said on condition of anonymity.

The only activity witnessed in this period of lull was on the intervening night of June 9 when 50 women cops joined the drive and issued 226 challans. “Earlier, our business suffered huge losses due to the drive against drunk driving. But these days, the business is picking up again,” a pub owner said.